Diamondwood

[chips ahoy]

Hi all,I haven't posted much just been reading and trying to absorb some of the great knowledge into this old haid.Any,bouight some of this diamond wood to make some darts for some friends,any way been having problems drilling the 7mm holes.The blanks keep splitting.I have used new bits and done the usually things to prevent tear out and only managed to get one blank and a lot of very colourful kindling.Anyone else use this stuff?Is it a waste of time?Still have some left.Any tips on drilling?I did manage to make a set of darts from a different type of wood,will post pics when I figure out how.

Thanks
Mel

 

[goldentouch]

I have used diamondwood a lot in the past and the trick is. Very sharp bit I like the bullet point bits
slow and don't force the bit into the wood.
Clean out the hole often.
I also cut the blank a little long and then recut after I drill.
This sould get going.

 

[53Jim]

As Eddie said, use a SHARP drill bit, go SLOW, CLEAR chips often. One thing that I do that wasn't mentioned, and maybe not such a good idea, after I clear the chips (turning off the drill press to do so) I then use a sponge that is damp and I wipe the drill bit down. I don't know if it actually helps, but it makes me feel good thinking that it helps.

I haven't had a blow out since I started doing that. Hope this helps,

53Jim

 

[Rudy Vey]

I don't know about Diamond wood, could be pretty hard, but I do a lot of Dymondwood[][][][]
Here is my experience with drilling: I have copied and pasted this from one of my posts last year. BTW, there is a search function that can be used to find some info.

"This are the two biggest problems with Dymondwood. I drill with a pilot drill bit, and I drill with high speed, over 1300 rpm. Clear often the chips out. Due to the angled laminations the bit tends to wander off the direction. Do not use a barrel trimmer, I use a disc sander to square the ends. When starting turning, I also round over the ends first to avoid break-outs."

 

[TheHoneymooners]

Mel, another thing I've noticed is when drilling you have to totally enclose the blank I've made a wooden jig to hold the blank and it's nothing but 2 pieces of wood hinged on one end with a V cut in each half. But by putting the blank in the jig , the bottom of the blank is enclosed and clamped tight .....less blow outs!

 

[wayneis]

Just use a sharp bit, preferably not brad point. I use high speed, sharp bits and water to keep the bit and the blank cool and I don't have any problems. Back the bit out to clear it often and squirt a few drops of water into the hole. Another trick is to hold the hose from your vacume right in front of the bit and let the air cool the bit when you back it out. I use that trick on most every blank that I drill.

Wayne

 

[dougle40]

It sounds to me like you got some bad blanks .
I've turned an awful lot of Dymondwood and only had the problem once and that was my fault (didn't glue the diagonal glue-up properly) . I use a medium-high speed and a slow advance with lots of backing out for chip clearance . I also use a "V" block for all my blank drilling and I have very little trouble with wandering .

 

[chips ahoy]

Thanks guys
Appreciate all the feedback on "Dyamondwood".I have about four 2' pieces left and will try again.I was running the DP on slow.so will up the speed a little and purchase another new bit,also will make a new jig and try cutting the blanks a little longer,that was where I was having the real problem,when the bit broke through.

Thanks a bunch and will work on the spellin thing.[:I][:I][:I]

Mel[][][]

 

[wayneis]

Mel, now it makes sense. If you cut long and drill short for any very hard or acrylics you will have much better luck. For now with what you have left I would put a board under the blank you are going to drill, go slow and keep everything cool. Another thing that I have done in a pinch is drill almost all the way through and then finish the hole with a round file. I've done this a few times recently, I drilled to just short of the bottom of the blank then flipped the blank over and drill a small hole from the bottom then take your round file and enlarge the hole. It is kind of a pain but when you already have the blanks cut or your blanks are just short then its a good fix. Remember that you can use a 9/32" bit in place of the 7mm then use either poly glue or epoxy because the hole will be just a tad larger than 7mm. This is what a lot of people do.

Wayne

 

[jdavis]

For what it is worth. I use brad point at 1000rpm, advance bit into blank slow, coming out of the hole often to clear chips. I hold all blants in a small machinest vise. Do not experience much blow outs on bottom end.

 

[wee willie]

I do the same as you Doug except i put a piece of ply under the blank so that the drill doesn't blow out

 

[Rifleman1776]

Even with all the gynmastics (Oops, tips) suggested, you will still get blow-outs. And for those blanks that do survive, failure could come at a later date. I make duck calls and made several from dymondwood. Try drilling a 3/4" hole in the stuff. After being in storage for more than a year the laminations on one just started coming apart on their own. Simply separated. The stuff is hard to work with and expensive, and now, worse, could fail after a sale and come back to haunt you. I have some pen blanks in the box that I'll probably never use. Not worth the effort and frustration, in my humble opinion.

 

[wee willie]

of course if they do blow out you could always cut them off above the blow and make tham into key chains